This hybrid columbine cultivar perfectly illustrates the art of modern horticultural selection applied to the genus Aquilegia , with a flower of striking elegance and particularly theatrical chromatic contrast. The photograph reveals all the beauty of this selection: large sepals of deep velvety crimson red, spread out star-like with amplitude, frame inner petals of creamy white slightly pinkish at the center, creating a clear and bright bicoloration reminiscent of the large American columbines with long floral stems. At the heart of the flower, a cluster of stamens with golden anthers adds an extra touch of warmth that harmoniously completes the red, white, and gold palette of the ensemble.
The spurs, clearly visible in the background on the buds and secondary flowers, are long, elegantly curved, and of a red hue matching the sepals, a characteristic inherited from the large North American species such as Aquilegia caerulea or Aquilegia chrysantha , which have greatly contributed to the development of modern large-flowered hybrids. The plant's habit is upright and vigorous, bearing its flowers on long branched stems that present them with lightness and grace above medium green biternate foliage.
'Red Star' likely belongs to the large series of hybrids developed during the 20th century, such as the McKana, Music, or Star series, specifically oriented towards the production of large bicolored flowers with distinctly contrasting sepals and petals. Like most hybrid columbines, it is cultivated in well-drained, cool, and humus-rich soil, in a sunny to semi-shaded exposure, and behaves as a hardy perennial with a short lifespan, self-seeding freely but with random varietal fidelity, as the seedlings tend to spontaneously hybridize with other columbines present in the garden.